On Mon, May 05, 2014 at 05:40:03 -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote: > > $ echo test2 >&${foofd} > $ cat /tmp/foo.out > test1 > test2 > $ > > it *appends* to the file, which is not what i was expecting. I'm guessing you were expecting the fd to be automatically closed, but I don't think that would make much sense. Close fd: $ {foofd}>&- Allocate fd: $ {foofd}>/tmp/foo.out Write to fd: $ echo test3 >&$foofd $ cat /tmp/foo.out test3 Joe